APGA Suffers Defeat At Election Tribunal

The State and National
Assembly Election Petition Tribunal sitting in Enugu on Tuesday dismissed the petition by Mr Ofor Chukwuegbo of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) for lack of jurisdiction.
competence.
The petitioner is challenging the declaration of Mr Chime Oji of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) as the winner of the March 28 Enugu North/South House of Representatives election.
In a ruling read by Mr Justice Michael Edem, the tribunal held that Chukwuegbo had no grounds to challenge a nomination made by another political party.
Edem held that political parties had exclusive powers to choose their candidates and that the emergence of the respondent was purely a party affair.
He said that being a pre-election matter, the tribunal lacked the jurisdiction to entertain it adding that the petitioner also was not competent to institute the suit.
The tribunal therefore, awarded N20,000 costs in favour of Oji, the first respondent.
In his reaction, Mr Ikenna Aroh, who held brief for the petitioner’s Counsel, Mr Chuma Oguejiofor (SAN), described the judgment as ‘ridiculous and unbelievable’.
Aroh said that there were Supreme Court decisions on the fact that anyone could complain within the ambit of the law to the election tribunal on pre-election matters.
“In the first place, the PDP candidate was not qualified to contest the election and the party itself did not follow due process in nominating him.
“I wonder why the tribunal shied away from the apex court’s decisions on pre-election matters.”
Aroh said that his client would test the veracity of the tribunal’s decision at the Court of Appeal.
Mr Obinna Onuigbo, Counsel to the respondent, expressed joy over the decision of the tribunal, describing it as victory for democracy.